Monday, March 24, 2014

Lenten Meal Plan Linkup, Week #4: Red Lentil Curry

The season of Lent is rolling along, and I'm enjoying seeing all the great ideas for meatless meals that you all have shared at Beth Anne's Best and Two O's Plus More. Beth Anne and Sarah have also been pinning lots of recipes on the Meatless Meals Pinterest board. If you have a favorite meatless recipe, we would love to add it to the collection. You can link it up as part of the collection at Beth Anne's Best or send it to one of us to add to the Pinterest board.

This week, I wanted to share one of my favorite meatless recipes for Red Lentil Curry. It takes a bit of chopping, which adds to the prep time, but it cooks all day by itself in the slow cooker and is perfectly ready at dinnertime. I love the way my house smells when this is cooking. We usually just serve it as a stew in bowls with naan (often just the store-bought kind) and find it makes a very hearty meal. It can also be served over rice.

The inspiration for this meal is the Red Lentil Stew recipe in Slow Cooker Revolution. One technique frequently used in this book is microwaving the spices and onions before putting them into the slow cooker. This gives them a chance to start getting acquainted before all the rest of the ingredients go in, and it helps the flavors blend a bit better (so you won't have to wait until the second day's leftovers for the stew to be really good).

This one is delicious on the first day. I promise. It's also thick enough to be toddler-friendly- it stays on the spoon nicely. If you want it to be thinner, you can add water at the end of the cooking time.

This post contains an Amazon affiliate link - if you click through and end up purchasing the cookbook (or something else), a small percentage of your purchase supports Surviving Our Blessings. Thanks!)